Miss J Alexander has been making headlines since the premiere of the Netflix docuseries, 'Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model'. So, let's take a look at where he is now.
J. Alexander Jenkins, best known as 'Miss J' for his time on America's Next Top Model, is a runway coach who got involved with the modelling competition show in 2003. He became a part of the OGs as a member of the very first 'cycle' of the show. Tyra Banks, who created and hosted the series, invited Miss J to participate after he helped her strut the runway when she was just a teenager.
However, in 2012, he was let go. While he continued to appear on international versions of America's Next Top Model and to help models with their walks, his career came to a halt in December 2022 after he had a stroke. He was in a coma for five weeks and woke up unable to walk or talk. Miss J has since regained his speech but is still relearning how to walk. Nonetheless, he has been making headlines for his appearance in Netflix docuseries, Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model, which premiered on February 16, 2026.
Miss J was raised in NYC and started his career in modelling after befriending Monique Pillard, the president of Elite Model Management, who signed him to her agency. However, everything changed when he discovered a knack for teaching other models to walk the runway with confidence. He met Tyra Banks backstage at a show when she was 16, and he began giving her lessons. Years later, when Tyra was pitching ANTM in the early 2000s, Miss J was the first person she called. Tyra recalled reaching out to Miss J and said, "He was just this godfather, mother, diva, extraordinaire. He was the real deal."
Miss J served as the runway coach from the very beginning and was appointed a judge in the show's fifth season. He and Jay Manuel became the show's "The Jays." Photographer, Nigel Barker rounded out the crew in the second cycle. He appeared on every cycle until 19, when, along with Jay and Nigel, he was let go as part of a major show revamp. Talking about his personal life, Miss J revealed in 2009 that he was a father to a son named Boris. However, he has kept his son's life out of the public eye, except in his book Follow the Model, where he said that fatherhood "enriched my life beyond imagination."
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It has been years since Miss J left ANTM. However, whenever he has looked back on his journey, he has done so with great admiration, while also acknowledging the criticism. For the unversed, the show received criticism for its harsh commentary and inclusion of controversial challenges. Talking about his journey and the controversies the show faced, Miss J was quoted as saying:
"I look back on that time as me, doing me, being me. Feeling fierce and fabulous. Being creative. I created my wardrobe. I think about the girls, what they went through and how they were treated. I look at the backlash, and I do wonder if we knew what we were putting them through. I can’t speak on the photoshoots because I wasn’t on [them]. Did we mean harm? No. I didn’t understand it, why [the blackface] photoshoot happened. Was the idea to make them feel what it’s liked to be mixed? I would have asked them what the takeaway was. But it wouldn’t fly right now."
As for the other aspects of ANTM, Miss J shared that, over the years, many contestants had seen the show and had formed expectations about what would happen. He further credited the show with changing the fashion world, including bringing in different types of people into the modelling world. He shared that plus-size models were being included, while dark-skinned models have risen immensely in the industry. He also stressed that Black Lives Matter has led brands to include black models.
Miss J and Tyra Banks were extremely close during the early 2000s and remained close during their stint together on ANTM. However, things became complicated in 2012, when she was told that the show was going in a more "mature" direction and she needed to "let go" of "three of my hearts": Miss J, Jay Manuel and Nigel Barker. Miss J recalled how he received flowers from Tyra on his birthday, and then he was fired five days later.
While neither Miss J nor Tyra Banks has commented on their present-day relationship in the documentary, they still follow each other on Instagram and seem to occasionally communicate. However, when asked if Tyra came to see him after his stroke in 2022, he revealed that while Jay and Nigel visited him, he hadn't seen Tyra. He shared that while she had texted him, the visit never happened.
After his exit from America's Next Top Model, Miss J appeared on the international versions of the show and taught at the prestigious Savannah College of Art and Design for 15 years. However, his life changed on December 27, 2022, when he suffered a massive stroke and spent five weeks in a coma. He had to relearn how to speak, and as of February 2026, he is still unable to walk. During his stay at the hospital, Miss J got a heartwarming visit from his ANTM colleagues and close friends, Jay and Nigel. Reflecting on their visit, Nigel stated:
"I was going to go see him, and that was just such a terrible shock and really upsetting and horrifying and scary. When he saw me, he was happy to see me, and we both cried, and I held him. I thought back to how we used to do shows together. I cried because I just miss them so much."
In the final moments of the Netflix docuseries, Miss J reunited with Nigel Barker and Jay Manuel. The trio got teary-eyed as they recalled their past and his health ordeal. They held each other, cried and finally smiled while taking a selfie. The episode ended with Miss J saying:
"I miss being the queen of the runway, the catwalks, of course. I'm the person who taught models how to walk ... and now I can’t walk — not yet, not yet. I'm determined to walk. I'm sure you’re going to see me again. I'm sure it's not over for me yet."
What are your thoughts on Miss J's journey? Let us know.
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